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Wang Z, Zhang P. Novel imaging modalities for the identification of vulnerable plaques. Front Cardiovasc Med 2024; 11:1450252. [PMID: 39328242 PMCID: PMC11424440 DOI: 10.3389/fcvm.2024.1450252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2024] [Accepted: 08/26/2024] [Indexed: 09/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Atherosclerosis is a slow, progressive disease that is closely associated with major adverse cardiovascular events. Early diagnosis and risk assessment of atherosclerosis can effectively improve the prognosis and reduce the occurrence of adverse cardiovascular events in the later stage. A variety of invasive and non-invasive imaging modalities are important tools for diagnosing lesions, monitoring the efficacy of treatments, and predicting associated risk events. This review mainly introduces the four commonly used non-invasive imaging modalities in clinical practice and intravascular imaging such as optical coherence tomography, intravascular ultrasound imaging, and near-infrared spectroscopy, compares the advantages and disadvantages in the diagnosis of vulnerable plaques, and briefly summarizes the new progressions of each.
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Barkas F, Sener YZ, Golforoush PA, Kheirkhah A, Rodriguez-Sanchez E, Novak J, Apellaniz-Ruiz M, Akyea RK, Bianconi V, Ceasovschih A, Chee YJ, Cherska M, Chora JR, D'Oria M, Demikhova N, Kocyigit Burunkaya D, Rimbert A, Macchi C, Rathod K, Roth L, Sukhorukov V, Stoica S, Scicali R, Storozhenko T, Uzokov J, Lupo MG, van der Vorst EPC, Porsch F. Advancements in risk stratification and management strategies in primary cardiovascular prevention. Atherosclerosis 2024; 395:117579. [PMID: 38824844 DOI: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2024.117579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2024] [Revised: 04/29/2024] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 06/04/2024]
Abstract
Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, highlighting the urgent need for advancements in risk assessment and management strategies. Although significant progress has been made recently, identifying and managing apparently healthy individuals at a higher risk of developing atherosclerosis and those with subclinical atherosclerosis still poses significant challenges. Traditional risk assessment tools have limitations in accurately predicting future events and fail to encompass the complexity of the atherosclerosis trajectory. In this review, we describe novel approaches in biomarkers, genetics, advanced imaging techniques, and artificial intelligence that have emerged to address this gap. Moreover, polygenic risk scores and imaging modalities such as coronary artery calcium scoring, and coronary computed tomography angiography offer promising avenues for enhancing primary cardiovascular risk stratification and personalised intervention strategies. On the other hand, interventions aiming against atherosclerosis development or promoting plaque regression have gained attention in primary ASCVD prevention. Therefore, the potential role of drugs like statins, ezetimibe, proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors, omega-3 fatty acids, antihypertensive agents, as well as glucose-lowering and anti-inflammatory drugs are also discussed. Since findings regarding the efficacy of these interventions vary, further research is still required to elucidate their mechanisms of action, optimize treatment regimens, and determine their long-term effects on ASCVD outcomes. In conclusion, advancements in strategies addressing atherosclerosis prevention and plaque regression present promising avenues for enhancing primary ASCVD prevention through personalised approaches tailored to individual risk profiles. Nevertheless, ongoing research efforts are imperative to refine these strategies further and maximise their effectiveness in safeguarding cardiovascular health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fotios Barkas
- Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece.
| | - Yusuf Ziya Sener
- Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
| | | | - Azin Kheirkhah
- Institute of Genetic Epidemiology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Elena Rodriguez-Sanchez
- Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Department of Physiology, and Molecular Biology Institute, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jan Novak
- 2(nd) Department of Internal Medicine, St. Anne's University Hospital in Brno and Faculty of Medicine of Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic; Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Maria Apellaniz-Ruiz
- Genomics Medicine Unit, Navarra Institute for Health Research - IdiSNA, Navarrabiomed, Hospital Universitario de Navarra (HUN), Universidad Pública de Navarra (UPNA), Pamplona, Spain
| | - Ralph Kwame Akyea
- Centre for Academic Primary Care, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Vanessa Bianconi
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, Italy
| | - Alexandr Ceasovschih
- Internal Medicine Department, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi, Romania
| | - Ying Jie Chee
- Department of Endocrinology, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore
| | - Mariia Cherska
- Cardiology Department, Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Joana Rita Chora
- Unidade I&D, Grupo de Investigação Cardiovascular, Departamento de Promoção da Saúde e Doenças Não Transmissíveis, Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge, Lisboa, Portugal; Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, BioISI - Biosystems & Integrative Sciences Institute, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Mario D'Oria
- Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Department of Medical Surgical and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy
| | - Nadiia Demikhova
- Sumy State University, Sumy, Ukraine; Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia
| | | | - Antoine Rimbert
- Nantes Université, CNRS, INSERM, l'institut du Thorax, Nantes, France
| | - Chiara Macchi
- Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences "Rodolfo Paoletti", Università Degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Krishnaraj Rathod
- Centre for Cardiovascular Medicine and Devices, William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom; Barts Interventional Group, Barts Heart Centre, St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London, United Kingdom
| | - Lynn Roth
- Laboratory of Physiopharmacology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Vasily Sukhorukov
- Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Pathology of Cardiovascular System, Petrovsky National Research Centre of Surgery, Moscow, Russia
| | - Svetlana Stoica
- "Victor Babes" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania; Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases Timisoara, Timisoara, Romania
| | - Roberto Scicali
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
| | - Tatyana Storozhenko
- Cardiovascular Center Aalst, OLV Clinic, Aalst, Belgium; Department of Prevention and Treatment of Emergency Conditions, L.T. Malaya Therapy National Institute NAMSU, Kharkiv, Ukraine
| | - Jamol Uzokov
- Republican Specialized Scientific Practical Medical Center of Therapy and Medical Rehabilitation, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
| | | | - Emiel P C van der Vorst
- Institute for Molecular Cardiovascular Research (IMCAR), RWTH Aachen University, 52074, Aachen, Germany; Aachen-Maastricht Institute for CardioRenal Disease (AMICARE), RWTH Aachen University, 52074, Aachen, Germany; Institute for Cardiovascular Prevention (IPEK), Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, 80336, Munich, Germany; Interdisciplinary Center for Clinical Research (IZKF), RWTH Aachen University, 52074, Aachen, Germany
| | - Florentina Porsch
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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3
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Karlas A, Fasoula NA, Kallmayer M, Schäffer C, Angelis G, Katsouli N, Reidl M, Duelmer F, Al Adem K, Hadjileontiadis L, Eckstein HH, Ntziachristos V. Optoacoustic biomarkers of lipids, hemorrhage and inflammation in carotid atherosclerosis. Front Cardiovasc Med 2023; 10:1210032. [PMID: 38028502 PMCID: PMC10666780 DOI: 10.3389/fcvm.2023.1210032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 10/18/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Imaging plays a critical role in exploring the pathophysiology and enabling the diagnostics and therapy assessment in carotid artery disease. Ultrasonography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and nuclear medicine techniques have been used to extract of known characteristics of plaque vulnerability, such as inflammation, intraplaque hemorrhage and high lipid content. Despite the plethora of available techniques, there is still a need for new modalities to better characterize the plaque and provide novel biomarkers that might help to detect the vulnerable plaque early enough and before a stroke occurs. Optoacoustics, by providing a multiscale characterization of the morphology and pathophysiology of the plaque could offer such an option. By visualizing endogenous (e.g., hemoglobin, lipids) and exogenous (e.g., injected dyes) chromophores, optoacoustic technologies have shown great capability in imaging lipids, hemoglobin and inflammation in different applications and settings. Herein, we provide an overview of the main optoacoustic systems and scales of detail that enable imaging of carotid plaques in vitro, in small animals and humans. Finally, we discuss the limitations of this novel set of techniques while investigating their potential to enable a deeper understanding of carotid plaque pathophysiology and possibly improve the diagnostics in future patients with carotid artery disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angelos Karlas
- Institute of Biological and Medical Imaging, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
- Chair of Biological Imaging at the Central Institute for Translational Cancer Research (TranslaTUM), School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Department for Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany
- DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), partner site Munich Heart Alliance, Munich, Germany
| | - Nikolina-Alexia Fasoula
- Institute of Biological and Medical Imaging, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
- Chair of Biological Imaging at the Central Institute for Translational Cancer Research (TranslaTUM), School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Michael Kallmayer
- Department for Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Christoph Schäffer
- Department for Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Georgios Angelis
- Institute of Biological and Medical Imaging, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
- Chair of Biological Imaging at the Central Institute for Translational Cancer Research (TranslaTUM), School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Nikoletta Katsouli
- Institute of Biological and Medical Imaging, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
- Chair of Biological Imaging at the Central Institute for Translational Cancer Research (TranslaTUM), School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Mario Reidl
- Institute of Biological and Medical Imaging, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
- Chair of Biological Imaging at the Central Institute for Translational Cancer Research (TranslaTUM), School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Felix Duelmer
- Institute of Biological and Medical Imaging, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
- Chair of Biological Imaging at the Central Institute for Translational Cancer Research (TranslaTUM), School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Chair for Computer Aided Medical Procedures and Augmented Reality, Department of Informatics, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Kenana Al Adem
- Institute of Biological and Medical Imaging, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
- Chair of Biological Imaging at the Central Institute for Translational Cancer Research (TranslaTUM), School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Leontios Hadjileontiadis
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Healthcare Engineering Innovation Center (HEIC), Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Hans-Henning Eckstein
- Department for Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Vasilis Ntziachristos
- Institute of Biological and Medical Imaging, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
- Chair of Biological Imaging at the Central Institute for Translational Cancer Research (TranslaTUM), School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
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Chen L, Liu C, Wang S, Lin T, Ou Y, Lin C. Impact of cerebral collateral flow on stroke outcomes after carotid stenting. Ann Clin Transl Neurol 2023; 10:2065-2073. [PMID: 37658584 PMCID: PMC10647002 DOI: 10.1002/acn3.51894] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2023] [Revised: 08/10/2023] [Accepted: 08/18/2023] [Indexed: 09/03/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Internal carotid artery stenosis is a main contributor to recurrent ischemic stroke. This study aimed to evaluate associations between recurrent stroke and changes in prestenting flow direction in the primary collaterals or both primary and secondary collaterals, and the potential interaction between extra- and intracranial arteries. METHODS This longitudinal study recruited stroke patients without intracranial stenosis who underwent right-side carotid stenting between 2011 and 2019. The main study outcome was recurrent stroke. Predictive factors were anterior circulation flow direction change (ACFDC), posterior circulation flow direction change, and reversal of ophthalmic artery/leptomeningeal anastomosis (ROALA) detected by transcranial color-coded duplex (TCCD) before carotid stenting. Patient follow-up was 9 years. Risk factors for recurrent stroke were identified by Kaplan-Meier plot and Cox regression analyses. RESULTS A total of 234 patients (mean age 70.88 ± 10.3 years, 86.32% male) were included, and 115 had recurrent stroke. Kaplan-Meier plot showed that patients with left ACFDC and ROALA had worse outcomes than those with ACFDC only, while patients with left ACFDC had worse outcome than those with right ACFDC (both p < 0.001). Cox regression analysis showed that recurrent stoke was associated with ACFDC at right (hazard ratio [95% CI]: 20.988 [2.549-172.790], p < 0.01), left (151.441 [20.100-1140.993], p < 0.001), and both sides (144.889 [19.089-1099.710], p < 0.001). INTERPRETATION Anterior circulation flow direction change is significantly associated with recurrent stroke in patients with unilateral carotid stenosis. Patients with ACFDC and ROALA together have worse outcomes compared to those with ACFDC only. Prestenting TCCD images help provide definitive information to predict outcomes after carotid stenting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liang‐Ju Chen
- Department of Health Business AdministrationHungkuang UniversityTaichung CityTaiwan
| | - Chi‐Kuang Liu
- Department of Medical ImagingChanghua Christian HospitalChanghua CityTaiwan
| | - Shih‐Chun Wang
- Department of Medical ImagingChanghua Christian HospitalChanghua CityTaiwan
| | - Ta‐Tsung Lin
- Vascular and Genomic Research CenterChanghua Christian HospitalChanghua CityTaiwan
| | - Yang‐Hao Ou
- Department of NeurologyChanghua Christian HospitalChanghua CityTaiwan
| | - Chih‐Ming Lin
- Department of NeurologyChanghua Christian HospitalChanghua CityTaiwan
- Department of MathematicsNational Changhua University of EducationChanghua CityTaiwan
- Graduate Institute of Statistics and Information ScienceNational Changhua University of EducationChanghua CityTaiwan
- Department of Post‐Baccalaureate Medicine, College of MedicineNational Chung Hsing UniversityTaichung CityTaiwan
- Department of Social Work and Child WelfareProvidence UniversityTaichung CityTaiwan
- Department of Nursing, College of NursingHungkuang UniversityTaichung CityTaiwan
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5
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Kopyto E, Czeczelewski M, Mikos E, Stępniak K, Kopyto M, Matuszek M, Nieoczym K, Czarnecki A, Kuczyńska M, Cheda M, Drelich-Zbroja A, Jargiełło T. Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Feasibility in Assessing Carotid Plaque Vulnerability-Narrative Review. J Clin Med 2023; 12:6416. [PMID: 37835061 PMCID: PMC10573420 DOI: 10.3390/jcm12196416] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2023] [Revised: 09/25/2023] [Accepted: 09/28/2023] [Indexed: 10/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The risk assessment for carotid atherosclerotic lesions involves not only determining the degree of stenosis but also plaque morphology and its composition. Recently, carotid contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) has gained importance for evaluating vulnerable plaques. This review explores CEUS's utility in detecting carotid plaque surface irregularities and ulcerations as well as intraplaque neovascularization and its alignment with histology. Initial indications suggest that CEUS might have the potential to anticipate cerebrovascular incidents. Nevertheless, there is a need for extensive, multicenter prospective studies that explore the relationships between CEUS observations and patient clinical outcomes in cases of carotid atherosclerotic disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ewa Kopyto
- Students’ Scientific Society, Department of Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-594 Lublin, Poland; (E.K.); (E.M.); (K.S.); (M.K.); (M.M.); (K.N.); (A.C.)
| | - Marcin Czeczelewski
- Students’ Scientific Society, Department of Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-594 Lublin, Poland; (E.K.); (E.M.); (K.S.); (M.K.); (M.M.); (K.N.); (A.C.)
| | - Eryk Mikos
- Students’ Scientific Society, Department of Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-594 Lublin, Poland; (E.K.); (E.M.); (K.S.); (M.K.); (M.M.); (K.N.); (A.C.)
| | - Karol Stępniak
- Students’ Scientific Society, Department of Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-594 Lublin, Poland; (E.K.); (E.M.); (K.S.); (M.K.); (M.M.); (K.N.); (A.C.)
| | - Maja Kopyto
- Students’ Scientific Society, Department of Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-594 Lublin, Poland; (E.K.); (E.M.); (K.S.); (M.K.); (M.M.); (K.N.); (A.C.)
| | - Małgorzata Matuszek
- Students’ Scientific Society, Department of Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-594 Lublin, Poland; (E.K.); (E.M.); (K.S.); (M.K.); (M.M.); (K.N.); (A.C.)
| | - Karolina Nieoczym
- Students’ Scientific Society, Department of Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-594 Lublin, Poland; (E.K.); (E.M.); (K.S.); (M.K.); (M.M.); (K.N.); (A.C.)
| | - Adam Czarnecki
- Students’ Scientific Society, Department of Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-594 Lublin, Poland; (E.K.); (E.M.); (K.S.); (M.K.); (M.M.); (K.N.); (A.C.)
| | - Maryla Kuczyńska
- Department of Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-594 Lublin, Poland; (M.K.); (M.C.); (A.D.-Z.); (T.J.)
| | - Mateusz Cheda
- Department of Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-594 Lublin, Poland; (M.K.); (M.C.); (A.D.-Z.); (T.J.)
| | - Anna Drelich-Zbroja
- Department of Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-594 Lublin, Poland; (M.K.); (M.C.); (A.D.-Z.); (T.J.)
| | - Tomasz Jargiełło
- Department of Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-594 Lublin, Poland; (M.K.); (M.C.); (A.D.-Z.); (T.J.)
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Ayoub M, Liao Z, Li L, Wong KKL. HViT: Hybrid vision inspired transformer for the assessment of carotid artery plaque by addressing the cross-modality domain adaptation problem in MRI. Comput Med Imaging Graph 2023; 109:102295. [PMID: 37717365 DOI: 10.1016/j.compmedimag.2023.102295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2023] [Revised: 08/24/2023] [Accepted: 08/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/19/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Medical image classification is crucial for accurate and efficient diagnosis, and deep learning frameworks have shown significant potential in this area. When a general learning deep model is directly deployed to a new dataset with heterogeneous features, the effect of domain shifts is usually ignored, which degrades the performance of deep learning models and leads to inaccurate predictions. PURPOSE This study aims to propose a framework that utilized the cross-modality domain adaptation and accurately diagnose and classify MRI scans and domain knowledge into stable and vulnerable plaque categories by a modified Vision Transformer (ViT) model for the classification of MRI scans and transformer model for domain knowledge classification. METHODS This study proposes a Hybrid Vision Inspired Transformer (HViT) framework that employs a convolutional layer for image pre-processing and normalization and a 3D convolutional layer to enable ViT to classify 3D images. Our proposed HViT framework introduces a slim design with a multi-branch network and channel attention, improving patch embedding extraction and information learning. Auxiliary losses target shallow features, linking them with deeper ones, enhancing information gain, and model generalization. Furthermore, replacing the MLP Head with RNN enables better backpropagation for improved performance. Moreover, we utilized a modified transformer model with LSTM positional encoding and Golve word vector to classify domain knowledge. By using ensemble learning techniques, specifically stacking ensemble learning with hard and soft prediction, we combine the predictive power of both models to address the cross-modality domain adaptation problem and improve overall performance. RESULTS The proposed framework achieved an accuracy of 94.32% for carotid artery plaque classification into stable and vulnerable plaque by addressing the cross-modality domain adaptation problem and improving overall performance. CONCLUSION The model was further evaluated using an independent dataset acquired from different hardware protocols. The results demonstrate that the proposed deep learning model significantly improves the generalization ability across different MRI scans acquired from different hardware protocols without requiring additional calibration data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Ayoub
- School of Computer Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410017, Hunan, China
| | - Zhifang Liao
- School of Computer Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410017, Hunan, China.
| | - Lifeng Li
- Department of Radiology, The Affiliated Changsha Central Hospital, Hengyang Medical school, University of South China, Changsha 410017, China
| | - Kelvin K L Wong
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada.
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7
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Fernández-Alvarez V, Linares-Sánchez M, Suárez C, López F, Guntinas-Lichius O, Mäkitie AA, Bradley PJ, Ferlito A. Novel Imaging-Based Biomarkers for Identifying Carotid Plaque Vulnerability. Biomolecules 2023; 13:1236. [PMID: 37627301 PMCID: PMC10452902 DOI: 10.3390/biom13081236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2023] [Revised: 07/30/2023] [Accepted: 08/07/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Carotid artery disease has traditionally been assessed based on the degree of luminal narrowing. However, this approach, which solely relies on carotid stenosis, is currently being questioned with regard to modern risk stratification approaches. Recent guidelines have introduced the concept of the "vulnerable plaque," emphasizing specific features such as thin fibrous caps, large lipid cores, intraplaque hemorrhage, plaque rupture, macrophage infiltration, and neovascularization. In this context, imaging-based biomarkers have emerged as valuable tools for identifying higher-risk patients. Non-invasive imaging modalities and intravascular techniques, including ultrasound, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, intravascular ultrasound, optical coherence tomography, and near-infrared spectroscopy, have played pivotal roles in characterizing and detecting unstable carotid plaques. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the evolving understanding of carotid artery disease and highlight the significance of imaging techniques in assessing plaque vulnerability and informing clinical decision-making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Verónica Fernández-Alvarez
- Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Hospital Universitario de Cabueñes, 33394 Gijón, Spain;
| | - Miriam Linares-Sánchez
- Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Hospital Universitario de Cabueñes, 33394 Gijón, Spain;
| | - Carlos Suárez
- Instituto de Investigacion Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias, 33011 Oviedo, Spain; (C.S.); (F.L.)
| | - Fernando López
- Instituto de Investigacion Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias, 33011 Oviedo, Spain; (C.S.); (F.L.)
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Instituto Universitario de Oncologia del Principado de Asturias, University of Oviedo, CIBERONC, 33011 Oviedo, Spain
| | | | - Antti A. Mäkitie
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Helsinki University Hospital, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 263, 00029 Helsinki, Finland;
- Research Program in Systems Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
- Division of Ear, Nose and Throat Diseases, Department of Clinical Sciences, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institute and Karolinska University Hospital, 17176 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Patrick J. Bradley
- Department of ORLHNS, Queens Medical Centre Campus, Nottingham University Hospitals, Derby Road, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK;
| | - Alfio Ferlito
- Coordinator of the International Head and Neck Scientific Group, 35100 Padua, Italy;
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8
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Poznyak AV, Sukhorukov VN, Eremin II, Nadelyaeva II, Orekhov AN. Diagnostics of atherosclerosis: Overview of the existing methods. Front Cardiovasc Med 2023; 10:1134097. [PMID: 37229223 PMCID: PMC10203409 DOI: 10.3389/fcvm.2023.1134097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2022] [Accepted: 04/11/2023] [Indexed: 05/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Atherosclerosis was and remains an extremely common and serious health problem. Since the elderly are most at risk of cardiovascular risk, and the average life expectancy is increasing, the spread of atherosclerosis and its consequences increases as well. One of the features of atherosclerosis is its asymptomaticity. This factor makes it difficult to make a timely diagnosis. This entails the lack of timely treatment and even prevention. To date, in the arsenal of physicians, there is only a limited set of methods to suspect and fully diagnose atherosclerosis. In this review, we have tried to briefly describe the most common and effective methods for diagnosing atherosclerosis.
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9
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Liu J, Zhou X, Lin H, Lu X, Zheng J, Xu E, Jiang D, Zhang H, Yang X, Zhong J, Hu X, Huang Y, Zhang Y, Liang J, Liu Q, Zhong M, Chen Y, Yan H, Deng H, Zheng R, Ni D, Ren J. Deep learning based on carotid transverse B-mode scan videos for the diagnosis of carotid plaque: a prospective multicenter study. Eur Radiol 2022; 33:3478-3487. [PMID: 36512047 DOI: 10.1007/s00330-022-09324-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2022] [Revised: 09/23/2022] [Accepted: 11/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Accurate detection of carotid plaque using ultrasound (US) is essential for preventing stroke. However, the diagnostic performance of junior radiologists (with approximately 1 year of experience in carotid US evaluation) is relatively poor. We thus aim to develop a deep learning (DL) model based on US videos to improve junior radiologists' performance in plaque detection. METHODS This multicenter prospective study was conducted at five hospitals. CaroNet-Dynamic automatically detected carotid plaque from carotid transverse US videos allowing clinical detection. Model performance was evaluated using expert annotations (with more than 10 years of experience in carotid US evaluation) as the ground truth. Model robustness was investigated on different plaque characteristics and US scanning systems. Furthermore, its clinical applicability was evaluated by comparing the junior radiologists' diagnoses with and without DL-model assistance. RESULTS A total of 1647 videos from 825 patients were evaluated. The DL model yielded high performance with sensitivities of 87.03% and 94.17%, specificities of 82.07% and 74.04%, and areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.845 and 0.841 on the internal and multicenter external test sets, respectively. Moreover, no significant difference in performance was noted among different plaque characteristics and scanning systems. Using the DL model, the performance of the junior radiologists improved significantly, especially in terms of sensitivity (largest increase from 46.3 to 94.44%). CONCLUSIONS The DL model based on US videos corresponding to real examinations showed robust performance for plaque detection and significantly improved the diagnostic performance of junior radiologists. KEY POINTS • The deep learning model based on US videos conforming to real examinations showed robust performance for plaque detection. • Computer-aided diagnosis can significantly improve the diagnostic performance of junior radiologists in clinical practice.
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Singh A, Nasir U, Segal J, Waheed TA, Ameen M, Hafeez H. The utility of ultrasound and computed tomography in the assessment of carotid artery plaque vulnerability-A mini review. Front Cardiovasc Med 2022; 9:1023562. [PMID: 36465468 PMCID: PMC9709330 DOI: 10.3389/fcvm.2022.1023562] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2022] [Accepted: 10/25/2022] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
As the burden of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events continues to increase, emerging evidence supports the concept of plaque vulnerability as a strong marker of plaque rupture, and embolization. Qualitative assessment of the plaque can identify the degree of plaque instability. Ultrasound and computed tomography (CT) have emerged as safe and accurate techniques for the assessment of plaque vulnerability. Plaque features including but not limited to surface ulceration, large lipid core, thin fibrous cap (FC), intraplaque neovascularization and hemorrhage can be assessed and are linked to plaque instability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aniruddha Singh
- College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, United States
| | - Usama Nasir
- Tower Health, West Reading, PA, United States
| | - Jared Segal
- Tower Health, West Reading, PA, United States
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11
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Advances in Noninvasive Carotid Wall Imaging with Ultrasound: A Narrative Review. J Clin Med 2022; 11:jcm11206196. [PMID: 36294515 PMCID: PMC9604731 DOI: 10.3390/jcm11206196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2022] [Accepted: 10/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Carotid atherosclerosis is a major cause for stroke, with significant associated disease burden morbidity and mortality in Western societies. Diagnosis, grading and follow-up of carotid atherosclerotic disease relies on imaging, specifically ultrasound (US) as the initial modality of choice. Traditionally, the degree of carotid lumen stenosis was considered the sole risk factor to predict brain ischemia. However, modern research has shown that a variety of other imaging biomarkers, such as plaque echogenicity, surface morphology, intraplaque neovascularization and vasa vasorum contribute to the risk for rupture of carotid atheromas with subsequent cerebrovascular events. Furthermore, the majority of embolic strokes of undetermined origin are probably arteriogenic and are associated with nonstenosing atheromas. Therefore, a state-of-the-art US scan of the carotid arteries should take advantage of recent technical developments and should provide detailed information about potential thrombogenic (/) and emboligenic arterial wall features. This manuscript reviews recent advances in ultrasonographic assessment of vulnerable carotid atherosclerotic plaques and highlights the fields of future development in multiparametric arterial wall imaging, in an attempt to convey the most important take-home messages for clinicians performing carotid ultrasound.
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Geiger MA, Flumignan RLG, Sobreira ML, Avelar WM, Fingerhut C, Stein S, Guillaumon AT. Carotid Plaque Composition and the Importance of Non-Invasive in Imaging Stroke Prevention. Front Cardiovasc Med 2022; 9:885483. [PMID: 35651908 PMCID: PMC9149096 DOI: 10.3389/fcvm.2022.885483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2022] [Accepted: 04/27/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Luminal stenosis has been the standard feature for the current management strategies in patients with atherosclerotic carotid disease. Histological and imaging studies show considerable differences between plaques with identical degrees of stenosis. They indicate that specific plaque characteristics like Intraplaque hemorrhage, Lipid Rich Necrotic Core, Plaque Inflammation, Thickness and Ulceration are responsible for the increased risk of ischemic events. Intraplaque hemorrhage is defined by the accumulation of blood components within the plaque, Lipid Rich Necrotic Core is composed of macrophages loaded with lipid, Plaque Inflammation is defined as the process of atherosclerosis itself and Plaque thickness and Ulceration are defined as morphological features. Advances in imaging methods like Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Ultrasound, Computed Tomography and Positron Emission Tomography have enabled a more detailed characterization of the plaque, and its vulnerability is linked to these characteristics, changing the management of these patients based only on the degree of plaque stenosis. Studies like Rotterdam, ARIC, PARISK, CAPIAS and BIOVASC were essential to evaluate and prove the relevance of these characteristics with cerebrovascular symptoms. A better approach for the prevention of stroke is needed. This review summarizes the more frequent carotid plaque features and the available validation from recent studies with the latest evidence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Andreas Geiger
- Division of Vascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, Universidade Estadual de Campinas—UNICAMP, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Ronald Luiz Gomes Flumignan
- Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Marcone Lima Sobreira
- Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Department of Surgery and Orthopedics, Botucatu Medical School, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Wagner Mauad Avelar
- Department of Neurology, Universidade Estadual de Campinas—UNICAMP, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Carla Fingerhut
- Division of Radiology, Department of Anesthesiology and Radiology, Universidade Estadual de Campinas—UNICAMP, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Sokrates Stein
- Division of Vascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, Universidade Estadual de Campinas—UNICAMP, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Ana Terezinha Guillaumon
- Division of Vascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, Universidade Estadual de Campinas—UNICAMP, São Paulo, Brazil
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Jain N, Muthanna BA, Sadangi R, Hosur B, Monga I. Sonographic evaluation of carotid intima-media thickness and carotid plaques in coronary artery disease patients. JOURNAL OF MARINE MEDICAL SOCIETY 2022. [DOI: 10.4103/jmms.jmms_71_22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
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